


Winter

by tevlek



Category: Strange Magic (2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2015-11-27
Packaged: 2018-05-03 16:43:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5298731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tevlek/pseuds/tevlek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marianne stayed behind during the fairy Migration for winter to be with Bog. The goblin king does not hibernate like his goblins or migrate like the fairies, he simply lives alone during the long months of winter. It is Marianne's first time seeing what happens to the Fairy Kingdom and the Dark Forest during winter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winter

“Come on.”

The glare of the sun after weeks of being cooped up indoors was blinding and Marianne nearly didn’t see the extension of the long-fingered hand towards her. She hesitated inside of the elf hut, the warmth of the fireplace calling her back to its safe glow but Bog was waiting for her on the other side of the doorway. As much as she craved that warmth, she had stayed behind for him. Marianne had fought her father’s will and Dawn’s persistent nagging for her to come with her and Sunny until she finally had her way. She would stay behind during the Migration this year to be with Bog for the winter. Only Marianne hadn’t considered the drastic change to the temperature and the unfamiliar seasons had become a stretch of weeks where she rarely see him because she had been too cold to venture outside.

_Spring and summer are all you ever knew._ He had said, his tone so understanding while running a hand through her hair as she contained bitter tears, furious with herself for being so weak because of a little cold weather. _I don’t blame you for being uncomfortable with something new._

She wasn’t afraid of new!

Clenching her fingers into a fist at her side, she shrugged the woolen cloak over her shoulders and reached with her free hand, resolutely setting it into his waiting palm. The fingers curled in and around her hand like a cage but this wasn’t one meant to hold her back, it was protection. His hand was a reassurance from the unknown that was waiting for her past the cozy elven village. Striding out the door, resolute to face the dropping temperature, Marianne let Bog escorted her into the sun. He reached behind her, staff balanced in his hand while extending a finger to lightly pull the door shut after her before rejoining her side as she sheltered her eyes from the glare with her hand.

The brilliance of the morning sun was slowly beginning to regulate the longer she lingered in its rays but Marianne could feel the breath of winter on her skin where the several layers of clothing could not shelter her. Her cheeks felt the kiss of cold air, her nose receiving a bitter nip, and the tips of her ears were chilling until Bog caught his claws on the fibers of her hood and flicked it over her head with a little chuckle. She put her hand to the hood, having forgotten it had been there and gave him a little embarrassed smile before taking in their surroundings again. It was surprising how alien the Fairy Kingdom seemed to have become in the absence of the summer months.

Beyond the earthy huts of the elves with wisps of smoke curling from dozens of chimneys, the grass of the field was brown and brittle. There were no flowers, only withered stalks that had lost their healthy green and any petals that remained were brown sludge half molded to the stems. The trees of the Dark Forest were bare and gnarled without the cover of their leaves. Dead foliage from both the trees and decaying cattails littered the ground, dried bits crumbling under their feet when Bog escorted her down the main road of the village and towards the bridge. Even the stream seemed to run sluggish when they crossed over it, Bog steadfastly lingering close by and patiently letting her take in the lay of the land whenever she spotted another difference from the green living world she knew.

“Does it always look like this during the winter?” she asked as he continued to walk with her into the dried grass, her fingers trailing along brittle blades and flinching away when some broke at even the slightest touch.

“Yes, it is a bit bleak but it is how the world looks when it sleeps.” He explained, the steady beat of his staff striking the earth in sync with their footsteps. “It might look strange to you now, but give it time. Winter has a beauty all of its own. You just need to catch it at the right moment.”

Marianne arched an eyebrow, curious of what could be seen as beautiful to this dead world they walked through. She may have an appreciation for things that were different but it was just like the day she had plunged into the Dark Forest for the first time. Everything was frightening because she didn’t understand it. Bog had cleared up that fear long ago and yes, he was right, it took time. In fact, this dry and skeletal world almost reminded her of him. There was no softness to Bog’s body upon first glance, only hard planes and sharp points that looked more harmful than endearing at first glance. Then she had grown closer, close enough to touch and feel and discovered the skin of his arms and legs, the flesh the softest part of him but even that was obstructed with thorny growths reminiscent of hair but nowhere near as fine. She had no qualms with his craggy appearance now, no, she had nothing but love for what was once considered a repulsive creature in her eyes. Perhaps that was what she would think towards winter if she only found something in it to be considered beautiful.

“I’ll have to take your word for it.” She sighed looking upon more dead grass. She didn’t want to doubt him but not immediately seeing evidence of said beauty in this world when his was much easier to find made it difficult. Marianne slipped her hand free of his and tucked it into the crook of his elbow, leaning into his arm and feeling the pressure of his shoulder scales grazing her hood when they clicked and shifted in his surprise at the gesture but then they relaxed and he let her linger near.

The ground was harder than she remembered under her; even the dirt seemed frozen in this season. She could feel the cold in the tips of her wings where they lightly dragged across the ground even under the protection of the elf-made cloak. Her fingers tried to clutch the material a little closer around her but it didn’t help where wisps of chilly air slipped through the folds and brushed over her arms through the cloth of her elf-tailored layers. A shiver shook violently through her and Bog paused.

“We don’t have to keep going,” he offered, leaning down to her level to meet her eyes.

“I’ll be fine.” She shook off the chill, shifting the cloak and re-linking her arm through his. “You wanted to go back to the Dark Forest to check on things, we’re going to go check on them.”

“I could take you to the Fairy Kingdom’s castle,” he nodded towards the large stone in the center of the field and she followed his gaze, looking upon the cold rock. There were no lights, no fluttering fairies drifting in and out of its many doorways and windows. No, it was just a rock, empty and cold much like winter itself seemed to be. Not even the elves would be inside of it at this point in the season. They were caretakers for the palace in the absence of the fairies but they never stayed long according to those she had spoken to. The chambers had no fireplaces and the wind could drift in through the cracks and crevices hollowed out to make the many passageways in and out of their castle.

“I don’t want to go there, I said I would go with you to the Dark Forest today and I will.” She would not budge on her decision in spite of a little discomfort.

That wasn’t how she handled things now.

“Alright,” he passed one more uncertain look her way but she turned her nose up at his concern. The display left him smiling at her stubbornness and they continued walking.

Walking took more time than flying and the shift from relying mostly on her wings to her own two feet was certainly a bit tiring. There was a burning in her calves and her lower back but she kept up with Bog’s accommodating pace, his long legs making shorter steps to match her own pace to keep them side by side. He must have been used to walking more than flying, considering that was what most of his goblins had been limited to thanks to their lack of wings. Still, she felt relieved when they finally started to near the former border between Bog’s lands and her own. Ever since the uniting of their kingdoms through her and Bog’s courtship, the borders between Dark Forest and Fairy Kingdom seemed to blur, flowers bloom past the shadows and tree roots beginning to snake into the grass of the field. The line was obscured now and Marianne was happy with the shift in the boundaries, for primroses no long grew as shadow and light were now mixing together and creating no definite line for them to grow along.

Love potions were no longer a threat to their kingdoms.

Without the canopy of leaves overhead, the Dark Forest didn’t look as menacing as it used to. Everything was stripped bare by the cold, trunks looking stark and gray while underbrush shriveled and died to make way for new growth next spring. There were even more leaves covering their pathway when they started to walk between the looming trunks rather than stalks of grass, Bog noticeably relaxing in the familiarity of his kingdom. The woods were silent but aside from the skeletal fingers of the twigs and branches over their heads, nothing seemed to inspire much fear as she used to feel long ago. Then again, winter had killed off its wild beauty just as it had destroyed the Fairy Kingdom’s.

“Everything is so quiet when everyone has gone.” Marianne marveled, craning her head back to look into the trees.

“Yes, it’s peaceful but sometimes the silence can be a bit maddening.” Bog sneered, looking up as well.

“How did you manage to make it through months of this alone?” she shook her head at the empty limbs. It was hard to imagine Bog finding much of anything to do when his subjects slept and the forest was empty of most of its occupants because of the shift in the season.

“I kept watch over everything, mostly, but every now and then I found ways to distract myself with a bit of fun.” He smirked stopping and Marianne followed his gaze to a cluster of dead leaves that had not fallen from their twigs yet. “Would you like to see one?”

“Yeah, show me.” She smiled, curious what he could do with a bunch of dried up leaves. “I’d fly up there but I kind of want to keep this close.”

She clutched the folds a little closer with an apologetic smile and Bog nodded, “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

He turned to the tree and alighted off the ground. Marianne watched him fluidly move through the air; his wings a mere blur behind him as he flew into the tree and landed on the branch he had been watching. Once his feet were on the bark, he walked to the leaves and checked them though she couldn’t see why before he stepped into the center of one, which barely moved under his weight. Facing towards the end of the leaf, he rotated his staff in his hand and struck the point where the stem was connected to the twig, breaking the bond and releasing the leaf.

Marianne gasped as the leaf started to drop, twisting and arcing in unpredictable movements as it made its way to the ground but Bog remained standing upright on it, his arms held out at his sides, knees bent and staff held tucked along his arm. He turned the head of the staff and the leaf began to corkscrew down in a tight spiral until he turned the staff again and it floated down with a bit of a waver until it slid to the ground and rested against the side of a stone. Once it was still, Marianne darted towards the leaf, reaching Bog just as he stepped off of it. He was still intact and without even a hint of using his wings in the process. She gawked at him while he rest the staff upon the dirt, a hand upon his hip and nodding back to the leaf with a confident curve to his lips.

“What was that?” she breathed.

“Just a way to pass the time on boring winter afternoons.” He chuckled, “I experimented with it when I was young since I was mostly alone every winter. It’s very easy to start out with; you merely have to keep your balance when riding the leaf down after you disconnect it from the branch. Landings can be a bit of a pain, though.”  


The expression that followed his final remark spoke of experience and Marianne grinned.

“Teach me.” Marianne grinned, shifting her weight from side to side in her eagerness to try the stunt herself.

He sighed, “You can’t use your wings, Marianne. It will be dangerous.”

“Hey, I can take care of myself.” She frowned, folding her arms. “If I need to, I can take the cloak off and fly. It looks like fun and I really want to learn how!”

Bog rolled his eyes at the tired out reassurance that she could handle herself but it was more out of a reluctant surrender than actual exasperation. He beckoned her over and she went to him, holding onto handfuls of her cloak she extended her arms and wrapped them around his torso. His chest swelled then contracted with another sigh before she felt his arm settling around her shoulders, holding her close. With a rattle of his wings, he carried her off of the ground and into the air with him. It would be a brief flight but she still put her cheek to the cold shape of his carapace, smiling to herself as she basked in the close proximity of him.

They touched down on the branch and he released her, leading the way back to the leaves while she eagerly followed, watching as he tested the leaves once more with his hands. He squeezed at the pointed shapes of the leaves, running his hand over the exterior then grazed his claws over the surface until he was satisfied and straightened back up, waving her closer. She came forward and he indicated the inside of the leaf where the points were beginning to curve inward.

“Stand in the center of the leaf and brace your feet apart so that you can get your balance.” He instructed and she did as he said, stepping into the leaf and feeling it bob a bit in the winter breeze. She sidled further to the center and finally stood with her feet apart, glancing back over her shoulder at him while he supervised. “Good, now, when the leaf falls, you will have to adjust your balance with it, otherwise the leaf will flip and you could fall off of it. It helps to hold your arms out to keep it steady. Remember, you’re just riding it down, you’re not trying to control it to go anywhere.”

She nodded again and spread out her arms shifting her weight from foot to foot to experiment and felt the leaf bend a bit at her movement. Another glance over at him revealed he was looking hesitant and when he noticed she was looking, his eyes widened a bit. He had seen what she was starting to plan and he immediately shook his head. Reaching inside the cloak, she drew her sword with a wicked grin.

“Marianne, no!” he snarled, stepping forward and reaching out his claws to snag a hold of her cloak but she struck the stem, cutting it and the leaf fell free. Marianne uttered a startled cry as the leaf descended, her arms circling a bit as her balance was partially thrown off by the arc of the leaf as it made a wide circle through the air, her hands scrambling to sheath her sword before she bent her knees and tried to even herself out, her balance shaken but holding. The leaf drifted from side to side, almost in a see-saw like motion the further she drifted down before she reached down and grabbed the tip, pulling it up and squealing in elation when it started to spin in tight circles, plummeting a bit faster and she grinned at the rush of cold air chilling her as the cloak flew all around her, her wings wanting to flare out and catch herself on the current of air but she held them at bay, riding the leaf’s descent. Releasing the tip, it wound towards the forest floor much slower once again but right when she thought she was coming to a stop, it struck a root and crumpled into a hundred pieces, sending Marianne toppling head over heels off of it and rolling across the dirt until she bumped into another root with a pained grunt.

“Marianne!”

Bog landed heavily on his feet beside her as she groaned, pushing herself over so that she was sitting upright. She pushed the cloak off of her head where it had flipped over and put a hand to her smarting head where she had bumped it. The hood had fallen back. Bog dropped to a knee and peered into her face while she rubbed; squinting through one open eye at him while he touched at her chin, surveying her and eventually sighing and standing once more. His hand extended down to her once more and she accepted it, letting him pull her off of the ground and set her back down upon her feet. A little boggled by her crash landing, Marianne blinked a few times to clear her head, giving it a little shake before looking up into Bog’s stern expression.

“That was reckless, Tough Girl.” He growled, striking his staff upon the root.

“I’m fine,” she waved off his concern. “I think I did pretty good for my first time!”

Bog sighed again but the longer he looked upon her, the more his ire seemed to ebb. He finally smiled again, relieved though she didn’t miss the shaking of his head as well. She shivered when she felt the bite of the cold again and Bog helped brush the cloak back over her shoulders, smoothing it down as she pulled the hood back over her head. He reached beneath the fold of the hood, brushing a few strands of hair from her face with a tender knuckle that drew a softened smile to her lips.

“Not bad,” he conceded. “Just…try to let the leaf do the work next time. It’s more fun not knowing what it will do than trying to steer it.”

Marianne rolled her eyes but she would listen this time and take it easy the next opportunity she would have to ride another leaf. For the moment, she let herself linger on the gentle sweep of his knuckle then the feel of his palm on her cheek. The inside of it was warm, untouched by the cold of winter thanks to his grip on the staff and she reached for it, holding his hand there and humming in appreciation for the warmth. Bog’s eyes were soft and gentle in that moment, tenderly looking over her face while she held his hand there, basking in both the warmth and general feel of it there.

“We should get you back to the elves. Your skin is getting cold.” He slowly removed his hand and she threaded her fingers through his, holding it tight as they started to go back through the trees and towards the Fairy Kingdom. It was another long walk but one spent in a comfortable silence that had settled her down from the rush of riding the leaf down from the trees. She hoped Bog would take her out to do it again and wanted to ask him when she would have the opportunity but the inquiry died on her tongue when she noticed that as they came out from the trees and started to walk into the field again, there was something off.

There was something white coming down from the sky. Large clumps of it that floated straight down unlike the trails of the leaves they had just ridden. There were thousands of them falling at different speeds and Marianne puzzled at the sight of them, looking to Bog but he didn’t say anything, only smiled at her and she looked to the white stuff again, slowly releasing his hand and walking a few paces into the midst of the substance. Her hands reached out and one landed in her hand, a cluster of tiny shapes that looked as delicate as lace but the moment they settled upon her skin, they started to melt away until there was just a drop of water left behind. She tried to catch another one but it followed the same fate as the last.

“Bog…what is this?” she held both of her hands up now, watching some slip through her thin fingers, barely feeling its cold caress on the way down. “It’s cold and wet…”

“It’s snow.” Bog stated, coming to her side again. “Ice crystals from the sky that piles up on the ground through the winter.”

“But it melts whenever I touch it.” She frowned, befuddled.

“The warmth in your hands melts it away but the earth, the grass, and the trees are all cold. They have been chilling since the end of autumn, which means that the snow can stick to them.” He held out his own hand to it and she watched another cluster of the beautiful ice crystals land against his gray skin. They slowly melted away but more had dusted his shoulders and even caught on the bindings of his staff. “If it keeps falling, eventually it will accumulate and everything you see will be covered in white.”

She looked out upon the Fairy Kingdom as the snow fell upon it, already creating patches of white between blades of grass and lingering on the top of the castle. Bog brushed the flakes from his shoulders with a shiver and fanned more off of his wings, Marianne smiling when she saw the first sign of his discomfort in the cold. Perhaps he was not entirely impermeable to it as she thought. Her attention went back to the snow and she noticed it on her sleeves and her shoulders were beginning to feel cold as well, hands brushing the accumulation off of her. Her fingers were starting to feel frozen, the skin a bit splotchy and red from the contact with the snow but even so, she was fascinated by the intricate details of the little ice crystals within these clusters.

“Bog, can I go to the Lookout Tree with you?”

He glanced up from brushing more snow off of himself. “The Lookout Tree? It’s not as warm as the elf huts.”

“I know,” she looked towards the elf village and the tree standing over it. The dark hollow where fairy guards had kept watch over the elves was vacant now but it had been Bog’s home through the winter. The elf houses were too small for him to comfortably live within and the Lookout Tree had plenty of headroom for him as well as a good vantage point to watch over not just the goblins in the forest, but also the elves who sheltered her through the cold of the season. “I want to watch.”

He tilted his head to the side, “Marianne, you can watch from the windows while you warm up.”

She shook her head, stepping into him and wrapping her arms around his neck. Bog’s puzzlement eased at the contact and he stooped a bit for her. They kissed with touches of cold lips and warm breath, Bog’s fingers tenderly cupping the back of her head. When she parted she kept her arms still looped around his neck, her face lingering near his. She smiled, a cloudy puff of air forming a little vapor between them before she guided him to lean down until their foreheads touched.

“You said that winter has its beauty,” she whispered, closing her eyes and feeling his hand settle against her back, claws pricking into the wool of the cloak and her shirt but his touch ever gentle. “I want you to be the one who shows it to me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Just a oneshot I wrote thanks to endorathewitchwriter who gave me prompt ideas.


End file.
